title: Measurement of exhaled alveolar nitrogen oxide in patients with lung cancer: a friend from the past still precious today.
abstract: Nitric oxide (NO) is a marker of airway inflammation and indirectly a general indicator of inflammation and oxidative stress. NO is a contributing factor in lung cancer at an early stage and also after chemotherapy treatment of lung cancer. We studied whether exhaled NO levels were altered by three cycles of chemotherapy at diagnosis and after chemotherapy, and whether, directly or indirectly, these changes were related to the course of disease. Also, a correlation of NO levels with other markers of inflammation was performed. We studied 42 patients diagnosed early: 26 men and 16 women with lung cancer. We analyzed blood tests for control of inflammatory markers, functional pulmonary tests, and alveolar exhaled NO. We recorded a decrease in exhaled NO after three cycles of chemotherapy in all patients, regardless of histological type and stage: there were 42 patients with mean 9.8 NO after three cycles (average 7.7). Also, a strong correlation appeared between NO measurements before and after chemotherapy and C-reactive protein (P < 0.05, r = 0.42, before) and (P < 0.045, r = 0.64, after). NO alveolar measurement as an indicator of airway inflammation indicates response to chemotherapy in lung cancer. Also, the inflammatory process in lung cancer was confirmed and indicated response to chemotherapy through an index that is sensitive to inflammatory disease of the airways.
authors.affiliation: Second Pulmonary Clinic, Sotiria Hospital, Athens, Greece;
authors.forename: Anastasios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kallianos
authors.forename: Sotirios
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tsimpoukis
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zarogoulidis
authors.forename: Kaid
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Darwiche
authors.forename: Andriani
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Charpidou
authors.forename: Ilias
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Tsioulis
authors.forename: Georgia
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Trakada
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Porpodis
authors.forename: Dionysios
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Spyratos
authors.forename: Athanasios
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Panoutsopoulos
authors.forename: Lemonia
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Veletza
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kostopoulos
authors.forename: Charalampos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Kostopoulos
authors.forename: Ilias
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Karapantzos
authors.forename: Kosmas
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsakiridis
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Hohenforst-Schmidt
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zarogoulidis
authors.forename: Aggeliki
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rapti
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Syrigos
keywords: inflammation; lung cancer; nitric oxide